Written by Aja Gabel And Myung Joh Wesner
Directed by Jeff Wadlow
Sara: "I'm not afraid of water, just what might be in it."
2026 seems to be the year for straight to streaming shark related movies. A couple of months I found Netflix's Thrash somewhat entertaining and Amazon Prime also got into the spirit of the idea for this mid summer release.
Take five friends - Sara (Kathryn Newton), Max (Lana Condor), Adrianne (Tommi Rose), Greg (Gavin Casalegno) and James (Nico Hiraga). Then bring them to Thailand for a graduation trip before they embark on the big world separately and you've got a disaster that was about to unfold.
Sara's great idea for a bonding experience was trip to a water cave known as the Devil's Mouth that her father once experienced. In that particular, the gang and their unfortunate guide, Wat (Tayme Thapthimthong) would have the experience from hell. For water that was meant to be unoccupied, there was a ravenous bull shark in the mix.
Sara and her friends got thrown into this horrible scenario before the film hit it's halfway mark. The rest of the film was various friends (and Wat) being picked off, one by one. There was also plenty of group fighting and friendships/relationships being deconstructed at the worst possible time.
For a moment, it did look like both Sara and Max were going to share the final girl title. Sara and Max's friendship really got put under the microscope. Did the two of them even really like each other? Did they both really want to be in each others lives, post graduation? I do think had Max survived, maybe we would've gotten a definite answer with those questions.
Sara being the sole survivor was hardly a shocker. She's the closest to a developed character in a movie that's paper thin on development. I will say that Kathryn Newton has been building a solid horror career and there's something satisfying in that final moment when Sara got herself out of the cave to freedom.
- Sara literally got left in the water by her friends early in the film and stung by a lot of jellyfish. That should've killed her.
- Sara was the only singleton among her friendship. There was a brief flirtation with another guide but it led nowhere.
- Standout music: Courtship's Warm Waters.
- Chronology: The whole movie's set in present day Thailand.
The Devil's Mouth is a diverting enough tale of watery doom with a hungry shark on the prowl. It's nothing to get too excited over but a solid performance from the cast keeps it moving along nicely.
Rating: 6 out of 10
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